Sections of Smith Point County Park closed for Piping Plover nesting, officials say
Smith Point Outer Beach sign indicating closure to vehicles in 2021 for protectiong of Piping Plover chicks. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Two restricted sections of Smith Point County Park in Shirley will be closed to drivers indefinitely to allow federally protected piping plovers to hatch their eggs, Suffolk County officials said Tuesday.
Outer Beach and Burma Road, where driving is allowed only with special outer beach driving permits, will be closed at 9 p.m., county spokeswoman Marykate Guilfoyle said.
She said those sections of the park typically are closed once a year when eggs tended by the small shore birds are ready to hatch.
Piping plovers are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.
A pair of piping plovers at Smith Point County Park's outer beach in 2013. Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
A state Department of Environmental Conservation spokesman said the agency was informed by Suffolk officials that the county was “instituting a road closure this evening in anticipation of piping plover nests hatching."
Burma Road and Outer Beach, popular for fishing and camping, extend east for several miles from the parking lot at the main beach.
Signs at the park said Outer Beach would be closed "until further notice."
Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.
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